Head Over Heels
by Aquila028
Summary: As Paris' newest superhero duo, what if the two had made the mistake of accidentally revealing their identities to each other from the very start? Turns out, Adrien ends up hopelessly in love with his superheroine partner, in and out of costume. Marinette's crush on Adrien never develops, but will she still end up head over heels?
1. Chapter 1

Today was the day. Parisian sunlight emerged from the looming glass windows that hung over Adrien's bed. The boy turned onto his side, dodging away from the uncomfortable heat that blanketed over his face. He slightly cracked open his eyes at the harsh glare that washed over him as his mind began to stir. Blinking a few times, Adrien's mind slowly found its bearings-

A shot of panic flew through his chest as he glanced over at the clock. _'8:25'_.

' _I'm gonna be late_ _ee_ _!_ '

Adrien didn't waste a single moment more in slipping out of his bed, while furiously brushing his teeth as quietly as furiously allowed. Most mornings, Adrien enjoyed a soothing warm shower in the morning, but today, he couldn't care less for anything past the most basic of hygiene. Adrien dashed back out of his bathroom and shoved everything that he could think of shoving into his bag.

' _Binder, check. Tablet, check. Pens..._ '

Inching open his bedroom door, he glanced around the mansion's grand entrance hall. Luckily, nobody was in sight. He quickly slid out of his bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs. It felt revitalizing to push past the gigantic entrance that had kept him sealed up for so long. A cool autumn breeze tickled his face as he stepped outside, and his hair was playfully tossed around by the light wind as he descended the steps to his house.

 _ **'SLAM'**_

Adrien cringed at the sound; he'd forgotten to let the doors shut gently.

 _'Well, there goes any hopes of nobody noticing...'_

Hoping to at least maintain his head start, he sprinted away. He grimaced slightly, though, as he heard a muffled sound emerge from inside.

 _"_ _Ad...i...n?_ _"_

He picked up his pace.

Adrien's heart bounced with adrenaline as he dashed down the paved sidewalks towards Collège Françoise Dupont. Adrien had impatiently anticipated this day for almost a month now. His whole life, ever since his mother's disappearance, Adrien stayed in his house alone, his father too busy with whatever it was that kept a famous fashion designer busy. Adrien utterly hated every moment of it. It was only through the one friend that he'd been allowed to speak with – even if it was only rarely - that he stayed sane. But now? It was finally all going to change. It was through this same friend, Chloé, that Adrien's escape plan had originated.

 _A remarkably plain day. On this day,_ _the pair_ _of friends_ _sat_ _together at_ _a_ _grossly fancy dinner party, the two being strut around like the dolls that they were._ _It was that day that_ _Chloé had unknowingly offered up a_ _n idea_ _that_ _lit Adrien's eyes with a burning fire._

 _"Ugh, it's_ _too bad_ _that we only get to_ _be together_ _during_ _these_ _awfully boring_ _di_ _nner_ _parties,_ _don't you think Adrichou?_ _Maybe we_ _sh_ _ould_ _just_ _run away together."_

 _Chloe batted her eyes flirtatiously while nuzzling her head uncomfortably against Adrien's neck. He didn't mind though, how could he? She was the closest thing he had to anything that even resembled affection, albeit, it was a rather clingy kind._

 _"You know we can't just run away, Chloé. We're both famous, people would notice us being gone."_

 _"I guess you're right, such is the price of fame," she declared as she held her hand against her forehead melodramatically, "I should just bring you to collége some time. That dump could certainly use someone else like me. The others there are oh-so horribly dull."_

 _Adrien went silent for a moment, but before Chloé could continue, he interrupted._

 _"D-do you think you could do that_ _for me,_ _Chloé?"_

 _"Hm, do what?"_

 _"What you just said. Sneak me into collége. Do you think you can, really?"_

 _"Huh? Oh! Oh, of course I can sneak you in Adri_ _chou_ _!"_ _Chloé giggled gaudily at the thought. "O_ _h_ _,_ _I can do even better than that! I can get_ _daddy_ _to_ _sign you up_ _this fall!_ _Your father will never know!_ _Oh, Adri_ _chou_ _, finally we'll be able to spend more time together; I can_ _teach you all about_ _school culture._ _D_ _on't worry,_ _I am adored by everyone after all._ _This is the best idea I've ever had!"_

 _As Chloé continued to stroke her own ego, Adrien's heart was fluttering at the thought; Chloé would get her dad to sign him up for collége! He'd be able to make friends, sing music numbers, and... well, everything else that happened at collége! At least, that's what all the movies had promised._

 _Maybe even... he'd find love? Leaning back in his chair, he dreamed happily at the thought. Adrien had always been a hopeless romantic, drowning himself in grossly cheesy romances to fill the void of love that had burned itself into his life._

 _As Adrien stared off, lost in his thoughts and excitement, a wide smile crept up his lips and he let out a longing sigh, one that Chloé had misinterpreted as being directed at her. Adrien had barely dodged out of the way of her sudden assault of kisses._

And now, today was that day that they had planned out so long ago. With the collége in sight, Adrien's heart began pounding. Nervousness? Fear? He didn't care what it was; nothing could ruin the raw excitement that flowed through him.

Though he had often come outside for various different photoshoots, none had ever felt like this. Even though those moments had set him free from the hulking walls of the prison that was his house, nothing about it was truly any less confining. But now? Sprinting through the streets without a bodyguard in sight? This. This was freedom.

"Adrien, stop!"

' _Well, that didn't last long..._ '

Glancing towards the noise, Adrien noticed the all too familiar silver car speeding towards him. He noticed Nathalie, waving at him frantically, a distressed look painted on her face. Any guilt that he felt in the moment was immediately replaced by determination. Adrien turned and sprinted, glancing backwards periodically. Maybe if he made it inside...

It wasn't soon after he made it to the school's steps that he heard the car skid to a park and the door clicking open. Maybe outrunning a car wasn't the best plan. He could hear Nathalie's severe tone already.

"Adrien, no, please! You know well your father opposes this!"

Adrien spun around, responding sharply, "But this is what _I_ want!"

He turned to continue up, uncaring as to whether or not Nathalie or the Gorilla would try to stop him until he heard a soft cough. Glancing back, he noticed an old man, fallen over, with his cane out of reach, and a bystander passing by, too distracted on his phone to notice. Running over without a second thought, Adrien helped him up and shot the man a soft smile.

"Thank you, young man," replied the old man warmly.

Adrien turned back around, still grinning from the old man's gratitude, before noticing his two bodyguards standing firmly in the way of the stairs. Adrien knew he wouldn't be able to force his way past them, and suddenly realized that it'd only make things worse if he kept trying. Sighing in defeat, Adrien strolled towards the two.

"All I want is to go to middle school like everyone else, what's wrong with that?"

Seeing the two's unfazed stern faces, Adrien let out another sigh.

"Please, don't tell my father..."

An agonizingly long drive later, and a dreary walk back into the giant mansion that he was supposed to call home, Adrien sat miserably, regurgatating knowledge out at Nathalie. The short bursts of praise from his "teacher" did nothing to cheer him up, rather, they dug him further into despair as he thought of what could have been. If only he had been a bit faster...

 _'This could be_ _a_ _real teacher right now... This could be a new friend sitting beside me right now...'_

"Give us a moment, Nathalie."

Hearing his father's voice was the very last thing Adrien had wanted at the moment, and staring at the harsh look that sat atop his father's face had Adrien bracing for impact.

"Very well," responded Nathalie as she stepped aside.

"I already told you it's out of the question that you go to collége."

"But, Father!"

"You have everything you need in this house. I forbid you from going; the outside is far too dangerous."

"Why do you want to shut me off in a cocoon, I'm always alone..." A fit of welled up frustration rose and spilled out, "Why can't I have friends, like everyone else?!"

"Because you are _not_ like everyone else." The sharpness to his father's words only made them stung more. "You are my son, Adrien! Resume."

Adrien tilted his head down defeatedly. His mind was in an utter flurry of emotions. Mercifully, Nathalie allowed Adrien to cut his lessons short, and he gladly took the opportunity to bolt back to his room, barely holding back tears on his way up.

It didn't take long, however, for those same tears to spill out as he reached his bedroom. Adrien hugged a pillow close to his face, as short, cut-up breaths and soft cries came from his throat. He didn't know how long his face was tucked into his pillow, but a huge and powerful vibration shook him out of it. Knowing earthquakes were a rare occurrence in Paris, Adrien headed out the doors to see what had caused the commotion.

Adrien hadn't known exactly what to expect; he didn't know much about the outside world after all. But a giant hulking stone monster that looked like it was ripped straight out of a comic book? Definitely not. When the monster flipped a car and the police that were stationed outside of his gate were sent running, he took it as a sign that he should probably retreat back inside.

Hopping over his couch, Adrien plopped down onto the cushions below and turned the TV on. A shaking news report confirmed that he hadn't just imagined what he'd saw. A giant stone monster really _was_ rampaging across Paris, and strangely, it both excited and terrified him. Perhaps growing up with cartoons and other fictional shows as his only source of the outside world hadn't been the most healthy for his mental state.

Glancing down only momentarily, he noticed that a hexagonal black box with intricate red carvings had somehow found itself onto his coffee table.

"What's _this_ doing here?"

Adrien felt an indescribable shiver; it was as if someone else in the city had just said the exact same thing at the exact same time. Dismissing the thought, he grabbed up the box, popping it open. An obsidan black ring lay in the center of some velvet cushioning. Before he could examine it further, though, a bright ball of green energy exploded out as a magical sound rung through his ears. In a few seconds, an adorably small, black cat (?) remained as the energy dissipated, seemingly asleep.

Yawning dramatically, the thing began to stir. Strangely, this was giving Adrien that same sense of fear and excitement from earlier. Maybe he actually was delusional. His excitement, however won over any of these thoughts.

"Wow, awesome! Like the genie of the lamp!"

"Oh yeah, I met him," responded the small black cat thing. "So he grants wishes, no need to make a cheese out of it. Plagg." he introduced abruptly. "Nice to meet you!"

To say Adrien was ecstatic was an understatement. Plagg? Flying cat thing? He couldn't be dreaming, right? His expression soon turned to horror, however, as Plagg flew over and started biting at his foosball table.

"No, don't touch that!" As he lunged, Plagg lazily floated away. "Hey, come back here!"

"Ooh, this is shiny, is it edible? Hm, not at all. And this?"

As Plagg flew around from object to object, Adrien soon realized that he'd have no chance at catching the tiny creature like this. The boy glanced around desperately in hopes of finding an opportunity before Plagg ate his whole room. Scaling up his rock-climbing wall, Adrien jumped down as Plagg was distracted munching on TV remote. The small black cat-thing was cupped up in his hands as they landed on the soft couch. Reality struck, suddenly; Adrien had been chasing this strange black cat creature for the better part of a few minutes; what was it even doing in his bedroom?

"I still don't know what you're doing here!"

"Fine. I'm a kwami," Plagg responded dully, "I give powers. Yours is the power of destruction. Get it?"

Shaking his head, Adrien's guard lowered back down at the words that spilled out of Plagg's mouth as if they were a completely normal thing to say.

"Alright. Do you have anything to eat?", the kwami continued, "I'm starving!"

"It's a joke from my father, is that it?" The stupidity of his words hit him very quickly, "Wait, that's impossible. He doesn't have a sense of humour." Catching him off guard, Plagg suddenly flew upwards and took on a more severe tone.

"You can't ever tell your father I exist! Or anyone else, for that matter!"

Adrien simply nodded, as Plagg continued.

"Anyways, you're now a superhero. Congratulations."

"Wait, what?!"

"Didn't you hear me? A superhero? Magic powers, yeah? Anyways, _your_ special power is Cataclysm, it lets you destroy anything you touch. Also, you get a super magic baton. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Barely any of it was registering in Adrien's head. He felt far too distracted by a strange mixed feeling of awe, excitement, and utter disbelief.

"It is now your job to save Paris from villains like Stoneheart over there." Plagg continued as he pointed out the window. Adrien cringed as he noticed another car was sent flying. "Of course you get all the regular superhero stuff, super strength, super speed, jumping power, blah blah..."

As Plagg floated off to God knows where, the information hit Adrien like a truck... no, more like a train. Something finally clicked in his mind; he was chosen? He was going to have powers? This was _just_ like all those superhero stories! Wait. Was this his origin story?!

"Powers? Superhero?"

"Are you deaf, kid? Yes! I think I've said it three times now. Why do I always get the dumb ones..."

Adrien blinked, not even noticing the snarky comment that his kwami had made.

"Oh, yes," Plagg continued, "it seems you have a partner as well. I can sense her kwami, so there's that-"

"What good is a superhero if he can't get out of his house?" Adrien brought up, suddenly.

"None." He noticed the small kawmi bouncing by on a roll of bandages that Adrien didn't even realize he had in his room. "That's why all of this will soon change. If you want it, of course."

Adrien stared at the small silver ring that sat in his hand. It looked like nothing special at all, as cold of an object as the rest of his house, and yet, he finally saw what lay beneath the shiny metal surface. This ring, Plagg, everything; it was freedom. Determined, Adrien slipped it on, feeling it conform to his finger perfectly.

"Just say 'transforme moi!', and bam I transform you!"

"Got it!" Adrien could barely stop himself from squealing stupidly. "Plagg, transforme moi!"

"No w-wait, I didn't finish explaining everything to youuuu!"

Adrien felt a strange force as Plagg slipped into the ring. It felt as if his own limbs were nudging themselves along. As his body moved on its own, he felt a soft light wash over him, transforming his clothes. He, of course, went along with the strange sequence, adding in his own dramatic flares where he felt it fit nicely. After a few seconds, he stared down at his now clawed black hands.

"So cool!"

Glancing at himself, he saw that he was covered, full clad in some magical leather, a couple pockets situated on the sides of his stomach. His gloves maintained his dexterity, and Adrien let out a breath of relief; he wouldn't have to deal with cat paws.

Walking over to his bathroom mirror, Adrien shut the door behind him. As he turned to the mirror, he was taken aback at first. A leather mask was donned over his face, and for a second, he couldn't even tell that it was him who lay behind the mask. Shaking out of it, he concluded that there must be some magic that sealed away his identity. Green lenses covered his eyes, giving them a very cat-like appearance. He smirked at the small bell the adorned his neck, giving it a small jingle.

The long tail-like belt that hung from his back stayed limp, and Adrien wondered if it actually had any uses. His new ears on the other hand stayed perked up and slightly vibrated at his touch. His hair had somehow grown messier covering his original ears completely. Snapping his fingers in front of the black cat ears atop his head, Adrien jumped and almost yelped at how loud the sound was; it seems the ears weren't just for decoration. Feeling underneath his now shaggier hair, his old ears were still present, but numb.

Having finished admiring his suit, Adrien picked out the baton hooked to his belt. He felt a bit taken aback by the thing: buttons and different sorts of gadgets adorned it. He'd have to figure it all out later. Adrien jumped yet again as he pushed a button and the pole suddenly extended out, colliding with the floor and ceiling, wobbling back and forth, yet holding its position. Pressing the same paw-shaped button, the baton retracted to its original length and Adrien reacted quickly, catching the thing easily. It seemed Plagg wasn't lying about those enhanced senses.

It wasn't long before Adrien found himself flying across a few roofs and playing around with his new tools. Extending the baton between two rooftops, he walked across the makeshift tightrope, surprised at how easy it was to keep balance.

"Huh, I'm starting to get used to this."

Adrien turned his head up curiously when he heard a scream growing increasingly louder, and didn't have any time to react before a flying girl barrelled into him, knocking the two down. Following the dizzying collision, they found themselves tangled up in a string, dangling down from Adrien's baton.

"Hi, you can say I'm glad you dropped by!" he started, cheekily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

A few more apologies and struggling later, the two were free. The new superheroine in front of him was covered in red spots, like a ladybug, and pulled at the yo-yo that was stuck to his baton, a strange choice for what was presumably her weapon.

"You must be the partner my kwami told me about!" Though he was excited to meet another superhero, the thought of having a partner in heroism excited him even more; superhero duos were always best friends or even...

"I'm..." he thought for a second. "Chat Noir! Yup, Chat Noir! And you?"

"Me? I'm Ma-"

Suddenly the yo-yo and the pole retracted launching downwards... and right onto Adrien's head. He squeaked out in pain as he rubbed at the sore spot that formed.

"I'm... maladroit... I'm so terribly clumsy..."

"Don't worry, Miss Maladriot!" It seemed that his superherione partner was bit more nervous about the whole thing than he was. His own self-doubt had come and gone pretty fast. He reassured, "I'm starting out too!"

Their conversation, however, was suddenly interrupted by the all familiar rumbling of Stoneheart. The two gazed up in shock as a skyscraper was levelled, and the sounds of distant screams grew. Without hesitation, Adrien – no, wait, Chat Noir - vaulted off.

"Hey, where are you going?!" shouted the girl below.

"To save Paris, no?!" Chat worried that she might have still been too nervous, but was pleasantly surprised at hearing the whizzing of the superheroine's yo-yo shortly behind him.

* * *

Perhaps his excitement had gotten Chat ahead of himself. As he dodged around Stoneheart, it seemed that he was only making things worse while his partner still remained absent. Was Stoneheart getting bigger? It was definitely getting bigger, right? He could've sworn that his partner was right behind him; maybe she fell off a building? ' _Oh god, what if she's hurt and I just_ _left_ _her?'_

His thoughts were soon interrupted, though, as Stoneheart launched a soccer net at him. He, of course, dodged out of the way easily, but a short fearful gasp turned his attention to a civilian girl, kneeling down, and about to be crushed by the thing. Instinctively, he tossed his baton over, which thankfully extended out and held its position, bouncing the net away harmlessly. Chat didn't have much time to celebrate, however, before he found himself grabbed up by the monster.

As he struggled, Chat gazed up and noticed his superheroine partner staring downwards, obviously still nervous.

 _'C'mon! I know you can do it!'_ he half-thought, half-hoped.

As if she had heard him, the spotted heroine glided down, knocking down Stoneheart and freeing Chat. He yelped as he was sent flying out of the monster's grasp, luckily landing in the soft netting of a goalpost. Thankful at the somewhat cushy landing, he noticed his partner sprinting over.

"Sorry I took so much time, Chat Noir!"

"No worries ladybug-girl. And now, let's break some rock!"

The fight didn't last much longer. His partner's smarts and confidence astounded Chat. While he went ahead attacking boldly, but recklessly, his partner was instead cool-headed and strategic. Heck, he even wasted his superpower and almost got himself trapped again, while she used hers flawlessly.

"Bien joué!" The two fist-bumped as they watched Stoneheart transform back into a tall and large boy that her partner seemed to recognize.

A short goodbye later, Chat found himself with a skip in his step as he bounded away. After the adrenaline of the fight had come and gone, the reality of it all suddenly hit him. He had just spent the last half hour battling against a giant super-villain side by side with the most amazing partner as a SUPERHERO! He felt free and powerful, sensations he'd been craving his whole life. ' _Please, don't let this be a dream, and if it is,_ _please_ _don't wake up yet._ '

As he arrived home and the last claw on his ring beeped away, he felt the magical energy that made him Chat Noir dissolve away while a very tired looking Plagg emerged from his ring, yawning as dramatically as he did when they first met.

"Ugh, kid! Do you have anything to eat? I'm absolutely starving over here!"

"Alright, sure," Adrien responded, rolling his eyes, "I'll call for my chef to make something for us."

A short while later, his personal chef, who, as always, was the best that money could hire, strolled in carrying trays of lavish snacks. As Plagg poked around with the lids that concealed the food, Adrien flipped on the TV to see if the news had caught up to them yet. Sure enough, every possible Parisian news channel he found was reporting on the new superhero duo of Paris. Adrien's heart fluttered as his eyes were glued to the footage.

"Seems you did a good job," the kwami praised. The two listened to the report for a short while longer before something caught Adrien's attention.

"... the new protectors of our city, Ladybug and Chat Noir!" The TV dissolved into background noise as Adrien's thoughts took over.

"Ladybug... Her name is Ladybug..." However, his longing daze was quickly broken with Plagg's overly loud complaining.

"Ugh, yuk! You want me to eat _this?!_ " the small kwami burst out, holding up a small fruit cup.

"Are you kidding? It's our starred chef who made all of this!"

"If you want me to regenerate after a transformation, I need more delicate cuisine."

Sighing incredulously, Adrien conceded, "Okay, what do you want?"

"Hmm...", Plagg sniffed at one of the dishes, opening up the lid. "This!" He pointed at a small fondue that hid beneath.

"You want a different fondue?"

"No, you idiot, the delicious camembert hidden beneath!"

"Camembert?! Just camembert?! Ugh, but that's the worst smelling cheese of all the smelly cheeses..."

"Well, smelly cheese is the price of superpowers... unless you'd like to relinquish being Chat Noir and never again see your darling _Ladybug_ ,"

Despite the teasing, Adrien had never so passionately retreieved a wheel of camembert in his life. Regrets quickly flooded back in, however, as he delivered the horrid smelling cheese to his kwami, and its "delicate" aroma filled his nostrils.

"Stinky camembert. Perfect, he only eats camembert, which means I'm gonna stink all day because of him..."

Adrien glanced back up at the TV, having forgotten to turn it off during his venture for camembert. Having assumed it would just be more coverage of their battle, Adrie eyes widened at what was instead terrifying news. New statue-like replicas of Stoneheart had appeared all around Paris!

"Plagg! What's happening? I thought we defeated it!"

"You _captured_ the akuma... right?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, thanks for reading and leaving all your reviews and advice! If you see anything in my writing that could use some improvement, please, don't hesitate to comment that! It helps me a lot at breaking bad habits I have!**

* * *

"Wait, what do you mean 'capture the akuma'?"

"Well, that's one of the things I couldn't get to before you ran off as Chat Noir. Akumas can multiply and make an army of replicas of the akumatized victim. Even worse, if the kid gets upset again, the akuma can turn him back into Stoneheart!"

"What?!" Adrien jumped up immediately."Then let's go now! We can't let that happen! Plagg, transfo-"

"Stop! It's Ladybug's job to capture akumas, not yours."

"So what? I can't do _a_ _nything_ without Ladybug?"

"Only Ladybug can capture akumas, and fix the damages done by the super-villains."

"Then we need to go find her!"

"Small problem with that. I can't seem to sense Ladybug's kwami anymore." Plagg, admittedly, was quite laced with worry. Without Tikki, the akuma would rampage out of control.

"What?! What do you mean you can't sense Ladybug's kwami?"

"It means that Ladybug isn't wearing her Miraculous right now, which means that nobody can purify that akuma."

"But why wouldn't she be wearing it? Do you think she's in danger?"

"Beats me, but right now, there isn't anything we can do."

Adrien fell back into his couch, deflated. It was bad enough that the akuma was running – or rather, flying - around Paris causing chaos, but not being able to do anything to fix it felt even worse. Adrien quickly decided that dwelling on it wasn't going to help.

While video games and various shows provided a decent respite from it all, Adrien couldn't ignore the constant nagging in the back of his mind. As night approached, Adrien was lazily scrolling the Internet for some sort of distraction. Plagg was snoozing away, plopped in the very middle of his bed, with small crumbs of gooey cheese lying nearby. He'd have to wash those sheets later.

Eventually, Adrien gave in to his anxiousness, deciding to do some research; maybe he could find some other way to capture the akuma? Having no better keywords to search by, he simply looked up 'Ladybug'. Though he didn't find anything particularly helpful, Adrien's eyebrow arched up at a certain result: ' _LadyBlog_ '.

"Lady... Blog?"

Curious, Adrien clicked the link, leading him to a blog revolved completely around the spotted heroine. A bright pink background shone brightly back from his monitor; the whole page was covered in the flashy colour. Scrolling down, Adrien noticed that only a few posts had been made: the footage that was on the news earlier, an excited post about the footage making it onto the news, and a "Welcome to my New Blog!" post. Adrien didn't recognize the owner of the blog, though she looked about his age.

Rewatching the footage, Adrien only became more enthralled by his mysterious partner. Though she seemed quite nervous when they had first met, the video showed no signs of it. All of her movements were graceful and confident, and she always maintained a cool and collected air about her. Admittedly, it was rather strange to watch himself in battle. Though he was definitely far from perfect, his deft movements surprised even him as he watched the footage.

Leaning back in his chair, Adrien's mind began to wander. The day had been quite eventful, and he was finally starting to feel rather noticing, Adrien slowly drifted off, dreams filled with a certain spotted heroine.

* * *

As morning arrived, Adrien felt the uncomfortable rays of the sun atop his face. Cracking open his eyes only exposed him further to the harsh light, and Adrien instinctively turned away. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that he was still sat in his chair, and found himself face-planting with the floor while his chair toppled over.

"Ugh, are you normally this loud in the morning?" whined a voice nearby.

Yawning, Adrien sat up before grimacing at the sudden soreness in his neck. Falling asleep in his chair probably wasn't particularly good for him. Glancing towards the voice, Adrien noticed its source, a small black cat thing. As the events of the day before rushed back into his tired mind, Adrien crawled over to his bed, poking the creature slightly, as if reassuring himself that everything really had happened.

"Hey! I'm still trying to sleep you know!" the small thing groaned.

It was real. Everything that happened yesterday wasn't a dream. He really had become Chat Noir, he really had fought a super-villain, and he really had met the most amazing superheroine partner ever. Sighing contently, Adrien fell back onto his bed, Plagg barely dodging out of the way.

"HEY!"

The shout finally snapped Adrien out of his morning daze.

"Oh, hi Plagg."

After receiving an earful from the kwami for waking, poking, and almost crushing Plagg in the span of a few seconds, the boy lazily headed to his washroom to get ready for the day. It was then that a dreadful realization hit him. Peeking out his bedroom door, he noticed the Gorilla posted at the entrance, vigilantly watching for any possible escape attempts. It seemed he really wasn't going to be able to go to collége.

Adrien stalled in the bathroom as long as he could. His entire morning was ruined by the realization. Even if becoming Chat Noir had given him a taste of freedom, what good would it do for the rest of his life? Rather than savouring the moments he had, Adrien found himself hungry – no, starving for more. He didn't want to be caged up in his mansion anymore, he didn't want to be home-schooled or spend the rest of his days alone, not after the small, yet amazing glimpse he'd had of the outside world. Adrien shivered at the slight draft in the bathroom.

Wait. Since when did his bathroom have a draft?

Looking towards its source, Adrien noticed that the window was still wide open from the day before. He'd forgotten to close it, being too distracted from the excitement of the day before. The bathroom had grown rather chilly as a result.

Adrien's eyes suddenly blinked in realization. Adrien may not be allowed out, but who was to say Chat Noir was too? With a newfound determination, Adrien finished up as quickly as he could, forgoing a shower yet again, and ran back out to his room to grab his things.

"What's gotten you so excited?" Plagg yawned.

"I can finally go to school!"

"H-huh?"

"Plagg, transforme moi!"

* * *

This time, Adrien was _not_ going to screw up. No loud door bangs, no old men to help up. Absolutely nothing was going to come between him and Collège Françoise Dupont. He knew that his bodyguards would eventually figure out that he'd escaped, but he hoped that he'd have enough of a headstart by then.

Turning a corner, Adrien skidded into a park, running as fast as his legs would let him. Thankfully, his inhuman Chat Noir endurance seemed to at least partially carry over to his regular form; he'd practically sprinted the whole time without even breaking a sweat!

"What a strange boy..." Plagg said suddenly as he flew up beside Adrien. "Why do you want to go to school instead of staying peacefully at home?"

"You don't understand, Plagg! I'm sick of staying closed up in my house because of my father! I want to meet people, make friends, and go to school every day like everyone else!"

Letting out his classic over-dramatic yawn, Plagg responded, "All this flying and transforming is so tiring, I'm starting to feel faint..."

Turning back around, Adrien stared back incredulously at his unmoving kwami, apparently still having enough energy to be as dramatic as possible.

"Seriously, are you kidding me?"

Plagg simply stared back, eyes pleading as if he'd been starved for weeks. Digging into his bag, Adrien's hand cringed at the grossly warm and gooey cheese slice that he pulled it out.

"That you only eat camembert that smells disgusting is bad enough, but _I'm_ the one who has to carry it..." Handing over the slice, Plagg devoured it without a moment's hesitation.

"The fact that I smell like a walking cheese shop all the time... _that's_ what's strange."

"Well, eating cheese gives me strength," Plagg replied lazily, "If you want me to be able to transform you, you have to accept smelling like old socks all the time."

Rolling his eyes, Adrien simply opened up his jacket as Plagg flew in. Having Plagg's whining finally out of the way, Adrien continued on his way towards the collège. Just as the school came into sight, however, Adrien heard a distant cry of a very familiar voice. Grimacing, he turned his head back for just a moment, and to his disappointment, noticed the same silver car that had tracked him down the day before, Nathalie waving out the window.

He wasn't about to let up though. Gaining newfound conviction, Adrien dashed towards the school's entrance, skipping up the steps, but halting as he heard Nathalie practically begging for him to stop.

"Adrien, don't do this. Your father will be furious!" Though shaken, Adrien found himself ever persistent.

"Tell him you arrived too late. Please!" Not wanting to hear her response, Adrien sprinted inside the school. As the rush of adrenaline settled down, Adrien slowed as he stared at the building in awe.

Students. So many students! He'd never seen so many people his age in his whole lifetime, let alone all in one room! Groups of students in pairs, trios, or alone were scattered across the place, some chattering away quietly while others laughed and smiled. Gazing around, Adrien spotted Chloé, surrounded by a particularly large group of people. It seemed she really _was_ adored by everyone, what with so many friends!

As Adrien approached, he jumped slightly when the girl that Chloé had been talking to stormed away, evidently furious.

' _My first day at school and there's already drama!'_ School really was as exciting as the movies made it out to be!

"Erm... Hi, Chloé!" he said, nervously.

"Adrichouuu! You've come!" Gleefully yelling, Chloé bolted towards him and practically suffocated him with her arms. With all the commotion that Chloé had made, many of the students began to notice him. Though he was used to the kind of attention, it felt a bit odd to suddenly gain the stares of all his peers. It wasn't long before he'd attracted a huge crowd of people, some screaming, some excitedly waving their arms for attention, and others almost fainting.

Adrien simply smiled and waved, his normal procedure for dealing with these sort of... fans. Luckily, Chloé led him through the crowd and showed him around. A few people asked for autographs, and though Adrien wasn't a huge fan of giving them out, he complied anyways. He really didn't want upset anyone on his first day.

Eventually, the crowds dwindled and the halls emptied as the students filed into their classrooms. With Chloé still attached to his arm, the two headed towards their class. As the two arrived, with Adrien signing a few more autographs on the way, Chloé excitedly ran ahead and into what Adrien assumed was their classroom.

"So here, this will be your seat Adrichou! I saved it for you! This way, you'll be right in front of me!"

"Thanks, Chloé!" She really was a good friend, even saving him a seat! Sitting down, Adrien introduced himself to the boy next to him.

"Erm, hi! I'm Adrien!"

"So, I guess you're one of Chloé's pals?" the boy responded, frowning. Blinking, Adrien wondered why he'd said that as if it were a bad thing. Looking back towards Chloé, he stared in disbelief as she chewed up a piece of gum and stuck it on the seat nearby. Though he hadn't much experience with the outside world, even Adrien knew such an act likely like wasn't good natured.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"The two who sit here were rude to me yesterday," she responded, "they need to be put back in their place! I'm just teaching them to respect me, nothing more."

"Chloé, is that really necessary?" Not willing to stand by something so mean-hearted, he began picking at the gum. Sadly, it stuck to the wood very well.

Chloé simply laughed as she replied, "You still have so much to learn, Adrichou. Leave it to the experts."

Still incredulous, Adrien kept at peeling off the very annoyingly persistent gum. His efforts, however, were quickly interrupted by an offended voice.

"Hey, what the heck are you doing?!"

"Oh, erm, I..." he stuttered out, caught off guard. The girl who had entered ran up to him, glaring daggers at him. Chloé and her friend laughed hysterically at the scene.

Giving him the death stare, the girl replied unamusedly, "Okay, I get it. Good job you three, very funny."

"No, no! I was trying to take _off_ the gum!"

"Oh yeah?" she merely responded, clearly not believing him. Picking at the gum, the girl got a piece lodged between her fingers before giving up and setting a tissue atop the sticky residue. "You're friends with Chloé, is that it?"

"Yeah... but why does everyone keep telling me that?" Standing up, the girl glared at him one more time before turning around and sitting, very intentionally avoiding his gaze. Disheartened, Adrien sat back down. His first day certainly wasn't going as planned. It was only his first class and he'd already made enemies with one of his classmates.

As he looked over to the girl's table, he noticed a girl sit next to her who was oddly familiar.

 _'Wait, that's the Ladyblog girl!'_ he suddenly realized. Sadly, he also quickly realized that the she was friends with the classmate that he'd angered, and likely wouldn't be too happy if he introduced himself to her.

"You see what I mean now?" he heard Chloé ask smugly from behind him. Adrien didn't even bother responding. He simply sighed and stared back down. He heard some chattering among the people around him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that many of the comments were directed at him, and they likely weren't very nice either.

He was snapped out of it, however, when the boy next to him began to talk.

"Why didn't you tell her it was Chloé?"

"Well, you see, I've known her since I was a little kid. Not everything about her is great... but I can't tell on her. She's the only friend I have..."

Turning his head back down, Adrien was surprised when the boy beside him suddenly extended out his hand.

"I'm Nino. I think it's time you make new friends, dude."

And just like that, a bit of spring was put back into his step. Smiling, Adrien took the handshake, grateful that Nino was understanding. Before Adrien could say anything more, however, a woman, presumably their teacher, walked in as the bell went off. Strolling behind her desk and taking out a tablet, the teacher suddenly called out his name. Perking up, Adrien hesitated, unsure what to do, but luckily, Nino noticed.

"When she says that, you need to say 'Here'."

"Uh! HERE!" Adrien yelled out in panic. The result were a couple quiet chuckles from his classmates and the teacher herself, but judging from her soft smile and Nino's approving fistbump, Adrien assumed he did fine.

"Bourgeois, Chloé."

"Here," she replied far more smoothly.

"Bruel, Ivan-"

"PRESEENNT!"

The whole class turned their attention as the door was toppled down and Stoneheart rushed inside. Adrien heard a couple screams as the students dispersed.

"MYLÈÈÈÈNE!"

As Stoneheart pursued Mylène, Adrien took as it as chance to bolt out of the classroom. Quickly making it over to the locker room, he dropped his stuff off as Plagg flew out.

"Ugh, it's my first day of school and I don't even make it past the roll call."

"Hey, at least you have the day free now. That's good news!"

"Oh no no no no. We have homework to do! Plagg, transforme moi!"

Wasting no more time, Chat left the school in search of Stoneheart. Finding the giant hulking stone monster wasn't particularly hard, and he laughed slightly as he heard Chloé mouthing the villain off.

"The police! The army! In short, I'll sic the entire cavalry on you!" she ranted on.

"Don't forget the superheroes!" Chat yelled out as he jumped to the rescue. He struck at Stoneheart with his baton, before remembering how bad of an idea that was.

"Er, sorry!" he muttered out as Stoneheart grew in size.

"Ugh, you mean the super incompetent?!"

"You want the cavalry, eh?!" Stoneheart burst out, "well, here it comes!"

As an army of nearly a dozen replicas marched in, Chat quickly found himself feeling quite outmatched.

"Get him!" the original Stoneheart commanded. And with that, Chat took it as his cue to start running. Dodging around the creatures, he noticed the original begin to stomp away as the other Stonhearts distracted him. Trying his best, he avoided the attacks of the replicas while giving chase. He _really_ hoped Ladybug would be back soon.

"Ahh!" he yelled out as he barely dodged out of being crushed by a yellow car. "Ladybug, if you hear me, I really wouldn't be against a little help...!"

Ducking away from another car sent his way, Chat noticed the same girl from before, the Ladyblogger, in danger yet again. Tossing his baton over, he grimaced as it failed to extend out, but thankfully, it hit the car away just enough to prevent it from crushing her. She, however, was still trapped between the wall and the vehicle, obviously in pain. Before he could run over to help, the distraction had proven enough for one of the replicas to grab hold of him. Chat couldn't see a thing as he struggled in the monster's hand.

"Let go of me, rock pile!" he screamed out. Just as he began to lose hope, he heard a muffled yell.

"Chat Noir, extend your baton!"

 _'What baton?'_ he thought to himself before he felt the cool metal of his weapon land in his hands. Not wasting any time, he complied and the hand around him split open as he rolled to the ground. Before he could do anything more, he felt a string wrap around his leg, and found himself being carried away through the air.

"Eeeeeaaah!"

"Sorry for the delay!" he heard Ladybug say from above him.

"My Lady, have I ever told you that you turn my world upside-down?"

"Oh, so you're the joking type, huh?" As the two heard the roars of a few nearby Stonehearts, Ladybug quickly changed the subject, "Say, fancy taking the high road? We need to get away, quickly."

Not giving him a chance reply, Ladybug pulled him up towards the roofs of some nearby buildings, and Chat barely got his footing as the yo-yo released his leg. Following after her, Chat wondered why they were running away.

"Hey, we're not gonna take on those guys?"

"No. If we want to save them all, there's only one we need to take down." The two landed by the Eiffel Tower where the original Stoneheart stood atop. "This one."

Quite a scene had been made while the two superheroes were away. A huge police force had mustered by the super-villain. As the two approached, Chat yelped as he saw Chloé be thrown down from the tower! He panicked, running as fast as he could, but before he could reach her, a red blur sped past, safely catching the girl in her arms. Letting out a breath of relief, he headed over to Ladybug, and the police nearby began to ready their arms.

"Wait no, don't attack him!" Ladybug shouted back, "You'll only make things worse!"

"No! We don't need superheroes! Leave it to the professionals, you've already failed once!"

The words stung, but they seemed to have dug deeper into his partner than with him.

"He's right... if I had captured Stoneheart's akuma, this would all be over already! I'm really not cut out to be a superheroine..."

Falser words had never been said.

"What are you talking about? That's not true! Without you, that girl wouldn't be alive right now," he comforted, turning her attention to Chloé. "So pull yourself together! Without us, they won't make it, and we're gonna prove it to them. Trust me. Alright?" As Ladybug smiled back, Chat felt relieved that his words had reassured her.

"Alright."

Their moment, however, was soon ruined as Stoneheart began hacking and coughing. Collapsing back, a cascade of purple butterflies erupted from the monster's throat. The akumas formed into the shape of a face as it began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Listen to me carefully. I am Papillon. Ladybug. Chat Noir. Give me your Miraculouses: the ladybug's earrings and the ring of the black cat. Everything will go back to normal once you do. The people have suffered enough because of you, have they not?"

"Nice try, Papillon." Ladybug interrupted. Chat was caught by surprise at this sudden burst of confidence.

"But don't reverse the roles. We all know who the real super-villain is. You're the one who transformed all these innocents into monsters of stone and rock! Papillon. It doesn't matter how long it'll take. But we'll find you. And you'll be the one giving us your Miraculous!"

Bolting forward, Ladybug sprung up, whirling her yo-yo around at the gathering of akumas.

"I'm freeing you from evil!"

With each swing, more and more butterflies vanished, absorbed into the magical weapon. Eventually, with one last powerful strike, the rest of the flock dispersed before too being captured by Ladybug's yo-yo. If Chat had been staring with awe before, he had no words now how much he was gawking at his partner in action. Landing on the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug turned towards the people who had gathered.

"I'm making a promise to all of you." Ladybug began. "Whoever it is who seeks to harm you. Ladybug and Chat Noir will do everything in our power to help you!"

And if her speech hadn't been inspiring enough, as she ended, Ladybug opened up her yo-yo, releasing the swarm of purified white butterflies, exploding out magnificently. Chat heard the excited cries of his fellow Parisians, but simply stared on. This. _This_ was Ladybug.

"Wow. It doesn't matter who it is that's under that mask... I love this girl."

As Stoneheart awoke, the fight didn't last much longer. With the two superheroes fighting with a newfound passion, it didn't take long before a purified small white butterfly flew away. As the two landed at the bottom of the Eiffel tower, both Ivan and Mylène saved, Ladybug swung her yo-yo one last time, capturing the akuma and sending out a bright cascade of ladybugs, swarming across the city, healing all the damages of the battle and freeing the rest of the victims.

As the swarm of ladybugs dwindled and the two victims stood together, Mylène wrapped Ivan up in a loving embrace.

' _Awww'_ Adrien thought as he gazed at the two new lovers.

"Aw, they're really made for each other!" Ladybug agreed.

"Yeah, like the two of us!"

"Oh, your Miraculous! You have to go! Go on, see you Chat Noir!"

Waving dumbly, Chat watched as his partner bounded away.

"Oh, I can't wait, My Lady."

As Adrien began in the direction of his house, he remembered that his things were still at school. The rest of his classmates had probably already gotten their things and headed home for the day. Turning around, Adrien vaulted off towards the the collège.

 _'Beep beep beep beep!_ _'_

 _'Oh no!'_ Chat thought, _'I'm gonna turn back any second now!'_

Quickly ducking into an alley, Chat breathed a sigh of relief, before his ears perked up as he heard a faint voice.

 _"_ T..kki, I c..n't bel..ve I j..st d..d th..t!"

Halting his breathing, Chat froze as he ducked behind a dumpster. The voice felt so vaguely familiar. Chat's back clung to the alley's wall as the footsteps neared. He shut his eyes tight, as if doing so made him any more invisible. Time passed by agonizingly slow as he prayed that whoever it was in the alleyway would just walk by.

"AHHHHHH!"

The deafening scream caused him to bolt up, before seeing that it had come from right in front of him. He'd been spotted. Staring him down was a blue-haired girl, someone he recognized from his class.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you-"

Chat's eyes suddenly turned over to the spotted red creature that hovered beside her for half a second before darting away. It looked suspiciously like...

"A kwami?!" he yelped out. In response, the girl jumped forward and covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh! Don't shout that out, Chat Noir!"

Chat nodded, eyes wide. The girl lifted her hand up as she looked around, scanning for anyone who might've overheard. He only knew two people who would have a kwami. Hawk Moth – the girl in front of her certainly wasn't a menacing middle-aged man – and...

"Ladybug?!"

Chat found himself tackled back to the ground, with the girl's hand over his mouth again.

"I thought I just told you not to shout, Chat Noir! Are you trying to give me identity away?! When are you going to transform back, I'll turn awa-"

As if on cue, Chat felt a wave of magical energy wash over him, erasing his costume, and leaving a very shocked Adrien Agreste on the ground. The girl simply stared down at him in disbelief.

"No way, Adrien?!" she yelped out as she jolted back.

"I thought we weren't supposed to shout, milady." Adrien chuckled as he stood up.

"It's you. I can't believe Chat Noir is you."

Adrien was confused for a second; why did she sound so disheartened?

' _Oh._ _R_ _ight..._ ' he suddenly remembered, ' _the whole gum incident..._ '

The girl began to turn away and leave, but Adrien rushed over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"W-wait! Let me explain, please!"

Tossing his hand off, the girl looked back coldly, before turning back and continuing.

"And to think, I was actually beginning to like Chat Noir..." she muttered before sprinting away. Though part of him wanted to give chase, her words pierced deeply through his heart. Adrien felt tears threaten his eyes as he watched her figure slowly disappear into the darkness of the alley.

How had he already screwed things up so badly?


End file.
